Synaptic

Synaptic is a program that helps you to install other programs (packages). It downloads and installs programs from different repositories from the Internet. The prerequisite for using Synaptic is a working Internet connection and if you are using the Live CD you must have selected the R/W Filesytem when booting.

Program packages may involve multiple downloads. The additional packages are dependencies. To over simplify - these are files that contain code needed by the primary program you are installing.

Running Synaptic

Click on the synaptic icon on the kicker panel or click on Kmenu >> System >> Synaptic Package Manager. When the "Run as root KDE su" window opens, enter your root password and click "OK".

Click the Reload button in the top left corner--this updates the list of packages available from Debian and MEPIS repositories. It is a good idea to do a reload prior to installing or upgrading any packages if you want to get the latest versions available.

Install A New Package

To find packages you can click on Search and a window will pop-up where you can enter your search term(s).

Right-click on package name and select "Mark for Installation"

Another window will open informing you of any other packages that will be installed, if you want to accept the changes offered click on the Mark button.

Now click on the "Apply" button on the Tool bar, a new window will open telling you what is going to be installed, click the "Apply" button.

The "Downloading Packages" and then the "Apply Changes" windows will appear; once it say "Changes Applied" you can close the window.

Upgrade An Existing Package

To upgrade a program you need to right-click on the package and select "Mark package for upgrade"

Downgrade a Package

To downgrade, highlight the package and click on the menu bar Package --> Force Version...

Install All Available Upgrades

To upgrade all programs after you do a "Reload" select "Mark All Upgrades" and then click "Apply"

Notes and Cautions

Be sure to look at all messages when installing or upgrading programs. If packages will be removed that you do not want removed, it is best to cancel the process and ask for advice.

If there are an unusually large amount of update files available it is a good idea to visit MEPIS Community Forum to investigate why.

Check Your Changes

You can double check the changes that will be made before applying them.

Select Custom Filters in the lower left hand corner of the Synaptic window.

Then in the upper portion of the left hand column click on Marked Changes. Now you can highlight the packages and read the description of each. If you have any doubts you can exit Synaptic, canceling your changes and ask for help.

If you change your mind about any package you can right click on it and select Unmark from the context menu.

Installing Recommendations and Suggestions

Another advantage of reviewing the marked package list is that you can check to see what (if any) additional packages are recommended or suggested by the package maintainer. These additional packages usually provide features not found in the base package or support for for additional formats. This can be particularly important when dealing with multimedia software.

Right click on the package name to view a context menu and then move your mouse over either Mark Recommended fro Installation or Marked Suggested for Installation. Another menu will pop-up showing the additional files. You have to select the ones you want to install one at a time by clicking on them.

As you mark the packages they will be added to the list of marked changes. You can then click on them and read the description of the package.

Distribution preferences

Unless you have good reason to do so, leave the Settings > Preferences > Distribution set for "Always prefer the highest version."

Locking Package Versions

Sometimes it may be desirable to keep a package and not upgrade it, this is called Pinning and is a simple procedure in Synaptic.

List installed packages

Explanations: "grep" is used to remove lines that contain "deinstall" (packages that were removed) "cut" is used to remove second column and "tr" to transform newline character into blank so the output could be used with "apt-get".